How do you know when it's time?

Please post any questions you have about aging or senior health issues here.
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critters
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by critters »

It's hard to know, but my usual rule is that if they're happy, healthy, and pain-free, and if humans are willing to help with the things that are difficult or impossible for them, then keep on keeping on.

:whale:
itasara
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by itasara »

Haven't been here for quite awhile.I saw another posting in my email today so I sent an update to the post, where you can read my latest update, " I want to euthanize my dog. ur thoughts? ". Quick Update here is that my dog is still with us, but in the past two weeks has shown more weakness. She is almost 13.5 years now. She still hears and sees well. We still have to shlep her out and lately have had to squeeze her bladder so she can pee. She often poops inside-- we don't always get a signal, but we can deal with it. She recently stopped eating dog food-big change, so she is eating people food and sometimes I try to mix in dog food, some of which she eats unless she can pick it out. She is still mentallly with us but I suspect that her days are more numbered now than ever.
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CarolC
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by CarolC »

Here is some information on bowel management.

https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Bowel_management_in_incontinent_pets

My vet says even though we all want the dog to eat a proper diet, sometimes you have to do exactly what you are doing, feed whatever the dog will eat and try to include some balanced dog food if you can. Bet she is loving the "people food". :)
itasara
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by itasara »

Thank you for your replies. I am on my phone now so I won't write too much now. She is actually eating well now that I give her people food. I hide some of her dog food in her dish and she does eat it. Mentally she is quite with it. My daughter came home to visit and Could not believe how responsive she is. We do this little trick where we put a biscuit on her nose and she flips it up and catches it in her mouth. No problem. I don't think she could do that if she were senile. And when we play with the laser beam she follows it all around her and tries to grab what we called dots. I take Aleve when needed for my sore back. It isn't terribly sore. I probably have some arthritis as well. I do not lift her into the car I can't do it so she doesn't travel anywhere unless my husband is with me and we lift her up to the car then and she still enjoys the ride. The two handled harness that we have is really a godsend because in the beginning we a sling -like a towel with a handle on each side, but I just could never lift her with this as I can with the harness. I don't totally lift her up she does walk with her front legs so I do lift her once in a while to get her up the step into the house or into the baby pool etc.
itasara
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Re: How do you know when it's time? update

Post by itasara »

My yellow lab, Vera, stopped walking with back end after her 12th bd in april of 2012. It has been a long long journey since then, but we managed to keep her alive and happy as much as possible. We had to put her to sleep on May 12, 2014. WE ARE still grieving over her, but I am glad we did what we could for all this time. We had some good times together and a few rough times, but I'm glad we, I especially, was at home with her to care for her. She depended on my for all her needs, but we think she knew that she was here for us as well.
itasara
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by itasara »

I just wanted to add that the day she died, she was seemingly ok in the morning. my husband took her out to pee--we knew for a while that she could not pee without our help and that was, we found out, causing her some distress. My husband figured out a way of putting her over a tank--like the ones that comes with gas bbq grills, because her front legs did not seem to hold her up as well. She knew exactly as time went on that this was her "potty." But that day, she was propped on a pillow watchng my husband do some work on his computer. Then later I came down. I gave her some water, took her out again,
and left her a short time while I cleaned up her papers and area.She was okay but a little more restless than usual. It was hot out and I went to check on her and she was panting and had some foam sputum.I brought her in, she used her front legs well to help me and she seemed restless, so I fed her some dog food which she had resumed eating a couple months ago. She age it like she was very hungry. then a few moments later she was laying down in obvious distress. And that was my real sign the time had come.
My vet was supposed to come to the house, but I called and got her answering machine. I texted it her, no response. I called my previous vet, got the answering machine. Message was same for both, in an emergency go to the pet emergency hops. Well it is a nice place but I never liked it there. So I called up a vet office near by and we brought her there. They were very gracious and accommadating. My eldest son met my husband and me there and we got to say our good byes while the medications were administrated. She had some sedative before because she was restless at first.She was quiet when we went into the room where she was laying and the vet said she could hear us so we talked with her and hugged her until she was gone and she went very peacefully. We have been very sad all week, but in time I'm sure the saddness will pass. And no we have no plans to get another dog. We still have two cats that are seniors with seniors diseases to deal with.
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CarolC
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by CarolC »

Ohh...it is hard to say at the same time I am sorry for your loss, but what an accomplishment that you were able to give her her full time. :angel: You will never have to look back with regret, only comfort and satisfaction knowing you did your best for her. I think it is safe to say nobody who has not given long term care to a large down dog can appreciate what the 2 years were like, but some of us here have done it. The idea of the propane tank is one I never heard before, that's a good one.

In my experience, you may need to spend the next 6+ months getting your back somewhat back in shape. By the time my big dog passed, I needed physical therapy, so you might think about that. If you just tell your family doctor what you have been doing for 2 years, and whether you have pain or loss of flexibility, etc., he will probably refer you to therapy without hesitation. They will do an evaluation and see if there is anything you need to work on. There are many changes that can occur in your back with long term lifting, that are unrelated to a disk injury, so even if you never blew a disk you may still benefit from rehab.

She was a very fortunate dog to have you for her family. She got her full life and was loved and appreciated every day. You are wonderful for what you did. I agree...if only they could be with us longer.

:grouph:
JaynTinks
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by JaynTinks »

My oldie is 14yrs old on Saturday. She lost ability to stand before xmas ..I was going to discuss this with vet after xmas but my step sister died and with all her funeral arrangements I didn't get round to thinking of it again until feb..by then we were 6 weeks off Inca's 14th birthday so I decided to see if could have one last birthday with her and started getting her presents.

As our winter has been quite mild we've managed most days for her to be able to go in garden with her cart at least once. She comes for a ride in a bike trailer when I take my younger collie out so she's not left behind as I use a mobility scooter.

So I;d decided to see vet next week to discuss her quality of life but the pet cremation service that I have pre-booked have emailed me to say they are going on holiday, so I've emailed to ask what date they are returning so I can decide whether to go through with it then.

I'm happy to keep her going whilst she's happy but she has a sore on her leg where her diaper fastens round and leg holes for cart and it doesn't seem to be healing. I've tried all kinds of sprays, creams, even stuff like coconut oil and aloe vera but the sore is in a difficult area. I leave nappy unfastened on that leg, when she's laid on sofa or on K9 bed outside to try and get some air to it, but it still seems like its not healing.

As I have to wait for owners of cremation service to come back from their hols I'll give it another week and see if it will heal. Any ideas what else might help it heal?
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critters
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by critters »

This isn't unusual. Can you leave her out of her cart and out of diapers for a few days to get it healing?
JaynTinks
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by JaynTinks »

Not all the time, she needs diapers on at night as she sleeps on top of my bed (won't settle anywhere else) and I use an heated underblanket for my back so if she pees and it goes through I've no working blanket.

Also have to have it on when go out in bike trailer otherwise she tends to pee or poo and I'm washing the blanket and mat in there every time before each next walk. I do try and leave her out of it once we get home and she's been to loo and will be snoozing on sofa for a while or just laid doing her puzzles.

Had her laid outside too when we had a few sunny days on her K9 bed to get some air to it though its raining today so they're stuck indoors! Just wondered if there was a cream or something that someone else had tried that I hadn't which worked?
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CarolC
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Re: How do you know when it's time?

Post by CarolC »

I would try original Desitin ointment and keep the area covered to ensure she does not lick it. (It contains zinc which is toxic if they lick enough of it.) If you take off her diaper, I would gently cleanse off the Desitin. If you do not have that brand where you live, it is a white diaper cream with zinc oxide that protects the skin and does not have to be applied with every diaper change. My male dog wore a male diaper 24/7 (no airings) for 2 years and Desitin kept his skin healthy.

As for your bed, I believe critters has come up with the idea of putting a waterproof mattress pad over the top of your bedspread to protect it from leaky pets.

I didn't realize you use a mobility scooter, and you're doing all this. That's truly awesome.
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